"Rege sir called me to say I was added to the Mumbai team and advised me to just focus on playing good cricket and forget everything else," Deshpande, who is eager to join Mumbai nets today morning at the Wankhede Stadium, told mid-day on Wednesday.

"Thanks for your support. This is possible only because of mid-day's article published of my performances a couple of days ago," Deshpande remarked. Along with Deshpande, all-rounder Sujit Nayak too was asked to join the Mumbai team. The third player whom the selectors decided to include in the 17-member team is left-arm pacer Atif Attarwala.

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However, MCA then learnt that since he is not a registered player with the BCCI, he is not eligible to play in the domestic tournament.

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